Ever seen this? RM990

[keving]

I was doing some maintenance on my Woods RM990 and discovered that the spindle bolts were loose. Have you ever seen this? The bolts are loose on all three spindles.

This was after I tightened the bolts. You can see the grease that sprayed out. The bolts were completely not touching the threads they are supposed to be threaded to.

 

[keving]

Any comments? Come on you guys I know somebody wants to tell me that I should be checking these every ten hours or something like that!!! Seriously though, I took these to my dealer today and he is going to show them to the Woods rep. to see what their thoughts are. I'm guessing there is some premature bearing wear or other wear because of these being so loose. I'll circle back with their comments. At least I'll have a response even though it's like talking to myself...

 

[gb19711]

Hi Kevin!
Hey - I'll talk to you.
A couple of thoughts on your dilemma;
Are the bolts the right size (1/4" in a 5/16" hole) or could the holes be stripped out? Just because it's from the factory doesn't mean there wasn't a problem during assembly. Also - could they be the wrong thread type (i.e. - metric vs. sae vs. standard)?

Greg

 

[jimg]

I suspect the quickest and best advice would comes from Woods. I believe they have a tech help line dont they? Even if they dont Ive found most implement cos are very helpful for things like this.

 

[zzvyb6]

You stated that the bolts were not touching the threads implying that the threads were worn or the wrong bolt size was used (length or diameter). Yet, you also said that you were able to tighten them. Did you really mean that the bolt HEADS were not touching the pully sheave? Where is the lock washer? Did it break off/out or was it never there.

Use LokTite. Keeps bolts in place. Heat to remove.

Use a star lock washer (1 time use) or one with a cleat on it. Bend up the tab to keep in place.

 

[zzvyb6]

Woods website has parts manual. No detail on bolts or washers on the spindle pulleys, just a picture indication. Are there nuts underneath? If so, I'd guess they spun during assembly and never got tight. Need a lock washer.

 

[rbargeron]

Any comments? Come on you guys I know somebody wants to tell me that I should be checking these every ten hours or something like that!!! Seriously though, I took these to my dealer today and he is going to show them to the Woods rep. to see what their thoughts are. I'm guessing there is some premature bearing wear or other wear because of these being so loose. I'll circle back with their comments. At least I'll have a response even though it's like talking to myself...

Were the bolts loose but the pulleys still tight? Or were the pulleys loosening too? The spindle connection to the pulley is a split taper bushing - a precision way of maintaining concentricity - found on higher-quality rotating machinery. Once the bolts have been tightened to draw the pulley onto the tapered bushing, it will usually stay in place by friction. The bolts don't really have to do much - until they're used in the alternate holes to push the taper apart to disassemble it.
A page from the Browning catalog is attached.

 

[rbargeron]

...... I'll circle back with their comments. At least I'll have a response even though it's like talking to myself...

Please post the outcome of this one Kevin, even though it's been a year. Did you take the whole bushing and pulley to the dealer? Was it worn from being loose? Someday somebody will search on RM990 and be glad to see the rest of the story. I'll be checking mine soon -

 

[RickB]

They are not spindle bolts. They are taper lock sheave bolts that have backed out. Clearly the belt sheave and hub are still tight (they are tapered and the bolts draw the tapers tighter together tightening the sheave to the hub and hub to the spindle shaft). If the hub and sheave had loosened, the sheave would be loose and wobbling on the hub. Tighten the bolts to the proper torque for whatever diameter and grade the bolts are and get back to mowing. These bolts need to be tightened evenly and progressively to stay tight. Apparently yours weren't.

 

[keving]

Tighten the bolts to the proper torque for whatever diameter and grade the bolts are and get back to mowing. These bolts need to be tightened evenly and progressively to stay tight. Apparently yours weren't.

This was the solution and I've checked them twice this mowing season and they've not budged. Sorry for not posting sooner...